Agape
by Russian Faerie
Summary: What happen's if Harry doesn't bother to ask Molly Weasley for directions at King's Cross Station?
1. Prologue

Okay guys... so I haven't been on here for a while but I have completely rewritten the story... so yeah. Also leave comments on your opinion of whether or not I should get a Pateron or Ko-Fi account. Suggest some awards you would like to see and other adobe or questions. Thank you for your support,

-Russian Faerie

Pst! You can find me on AO3 under the same username.

Only slightly irritated at Pansy's annoying chatter, Harry reached over to the golden goblet and took a sip of pumpkin juice. Putting the cup down, he was about to turn his attention towards his meal, a dry piece of toast, when he felt a pressure on his throat. His airway was suddenly cut off. Eyes bulging, he grabbed at his neck, fingers scratching at his neck to relieve the crushing pressure. His nails were tearing at his skin when his vision started swarming and was invaded with specks of darkness. His heart pounded in his ears as he squirmed in the seat, knocking into Draco, gaining the blonde's attention. They meet eyes right before Harry passed out.


	2. Uncomfortable Robe Fittings

Harry was having a whirlwind of a week. It had all started with a letter that had been addressed to him. Dudley had stolen it from him before he could read it and ever since his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had seen it, he had been locked in his cupboard for almost the whole day. The letters kept coming for a few days, causing Uncle Vernon to go crazy and actually cover the mail slot. Then, one day Harry was serving cookies to his family, when his Uncle had remarked about how pleasant mail-free Sundays were, when a tornado of letters erupted from the fire place. They were all addressed to:

H. Potter

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging,

Surrey

This had sent his uncle into a rage. He had screamed at everyone the pack their bags and they had set off on a road trip that had lasted days until they arrived at their location. A weathered hut, on a mini island, in the middle of the rabid sea. That night, a giant man who called himself Hagrid, knocked down the door and gave Harry a birthday cake. His own birthday cake! He had only had cake once, when a classmate had brought one to class to celebrate their birthday. Then Hagrid continued to inform Harry to he was a wizard, a famous one in fact, and whisked him away. Hagrid had told him all about this wizard that everyone referred to as You-Know-Who but whose real name was Lord Voldemort.

Apparently, his parents hadn't died in a car crash like his family, the Dursley's, had told him. They had died protecting Harry from Voldemort and then, somehow, Harry escaped getting murdered by the Killing Curse. After this story, Hagrid took him out to buy his school supplies at the place called Diagon Alley. That is how he found himself in this situation.

Harry felt extremely uncomfortable as a robe fitter, who went by the name of Madam Malkin, fluttered around him. He was currently standing up on a stool positioned in front of a long mirror. That same mirror reflected the image of a small boy with untameable hair and shockingly vibrant green eyes that were blocked by his broken circular glasses. The glasses didn't stop his eyes from practically popping out from his pale face. Madam Malkin clicked her tongue when the door to the store (which was empty besides him since it was rather early) and a family of three glided in.

Harry curiously looked over and was slightly shocked at seeing such regal people. They were like the actors and actresses that Harry had caught a glimpse at on one of Dudley's many TVs. A man was leading a woman and boy. They all had long blonde hair that looked silver in the harsh, industrial light of the robe shop. All of them also had incredibly pale skin which caused Harry to have a self-conscious flush of embarrassment at his own sun burned skin. The parents walked silently, noses tilted up just so that they reminded him of his Aunt Petunia's self-righteousness whenever she ranted about the neighbour's daily activities.

The boy, who was holding his mother's hand, while graceful, walked with more excitement than his parents. He had the full lips of his mother and the slightly bumped nose of his father. The boy looked around at Harry and he only registered that the blonde had sleet grey eyes before he shifted his eyes elsewhere. He didn't want to be caught staring.

The father of the bunch walked forward and let out a little cough, that barely reached his ears but was enough to catch the attention of Madam Malkin. She turned around with a pleasant smile.

"What can I help you with today, Mr and Mrs Malfoy?" she asked.

"We are here to purchase Hogwarts robes for our son, Draco." Mr Malfoy answered.

"Of course, once I finish of with Mr Potter, I'll get right along to young Mr Malfoy."

Harry winced at the revealing of his name, expected the highly embarrassing excited reaction that he had received so far, but instead received the slight glance in his direction from Draco and nods from his parents, before they made their way over to a group of chairs. Madam Malkin continued with his robes and soon enough she was finished with the fitting and she told him to come back in a half an hour for them before she turned her focus to the Malfoy family, letting Harry to walk himself out and find Hagrid.

Hagrid was waiting outside for him, leaning against the wall of the shop that was almost as tall as he was.

"Ready 'ta go, 'arry?"

With a nod, they went off to purchase the rest of Harry's supplies.

Harry had forgotten to inform Hagrid that they were supposed to be back at Madam Malkin's in half an hour, so instead they hurried through the streets of Diagon Alley, a shopping district for wizards and witches (Harry was never going to get used to magic). They managed to get to Madam Malkin's when they Malfoy family was also picking their robes up. Harry waited behind the family and the young boy decided to turn around and thrust his hand out for Harry to shake.

"Hello, I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" Draco said, and Harry took the hand in front of him.

Harry simply said, "Hello Draco, I'm Harry."

They both smiled at each other before Draco burst into a conversation about the different houses. The boy raved about how he was going to be in Slytherin and how Slytherin was the best house out of all of them.

"Of course, the other ones are alright but I couldn't imagine not being in Slytherin." Draco exclaimed. Harry thought that if Hagrid was here (Hagrid was too tall for the store door) he wouldn't agree as they had had a conversation where Hagrid had spent the entire time condemning Slytherins as evil. Despite the giant man's words echoing in his ears, Harry smiled. No one had really spoken to him like this before.

"What house will you be in Harry?"

Thoughtfully, Harry pondered the question. There were four houses; Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Draco had told him that Slytherins were cunning and sly; that Gryffindors were stupidly brave. Mrs Malfoy, who had been curiously watching, has chided Draco for using the word stupid. Draco then continued to describe Ravenclaws as bookworms and Hufflepuffs as cowardly. Harry honestly didn't know what house he would be in and was tempted to ask if there was a house for freaks when Draco interrupted his train of thought.

"Well obviously you would be in Slyhterin! You're my friend after all!"

Friend?

The last friend that Harry had had, his cousin had beat them up and they had never spoken to Harry again. But Dudley wasn't here to hurt Draco and Harry desperately wanted a friend.

"Of course!" he responded with a grin. With an act of brash instinctiveness, he went and hugged Draco, like the friends on the TV did. Harry was scared when he felt Draco tense and was pulling away when Draco grabbed him and hugged him back fiercely.

He would have cried if it wasn't for the fact that he was in public. He had never been hugged before.

Sadly, after talking with his new friend for a few more minutes, his family had to leave. But Draco assured him that he would keep an eye out for Harry on the train.


	3. Platform 9 and 34

The next day, Harry and Hagrid made their way to King's Cross Station where Hagrid promptly abandoned him on the train platform, leaving Harry to find Platform 9 and ¾. Harry didn't know that train platforms came in quarters but he decided he might as well ask. Walking up to a person in a security uniform, Harry asked the man where he could find where he needed to go.

"Stop playing games, boy!" The man bellowed, "There is no Platform 9 and ¾. There is nine and ten."

Sighing Harry turned around to find someone else to help him when he caught sight of a group of red heads. A short, plump woman, who was tactfully weaving her family through the crowds of people, was shouting at two identical boys who were cackling. Despite the family being very large and very red, another thing that caught Harry's attention was when the plump woman shouted something about muggles. The familiar term triggered his memory of when he first met Hagrid. The giant man had described non-magical people as muggles. The only people who knew that word were magical, as magic was a secret from Muggles.

Deciding that they were his best chance of finding where he needed to go, he moved his trolley, that held his new trunk and his owl Hedwig (a birthday present from Hagrid) and followed the family. He pondered how strange he must have looked, with his dark robes and a pet owl. However, he noticed that the family was dressed the same as he was.

Harry thought about approaching them but decided against it. The small woman looked very frustrated and whenever Aunt Petunia looked like that, she always gave him a smack on the back of his head. They approached a column between Platform 9 and 10 and Harry watched in fascination as the whole clan disappeared, one-by-one, through the bricks. When all of them were gone, Harry checked to make sure no one was looking before he casually walked towards the wall and disappeared through it himself.

On the other side of the brick column, there was a train platform that was crowded with people in possession of trunks and wearing Hogwarts robes, like he himself did. Feeling more confident with himself, he disposed of his trolley and took his trunk and owl with him onto the train to find a compartment.

He had been searching for an empty place to sit when he passed a compartment with a familiar flash of light hair.

"Harry!" Draco called from inside the compartment and quickly opened the door for him. Draco looked like he was going to go for another hug but instead took Harry's owl and placed her on one of the booths.

"I'm so glad you found me!" Draco continued to say while they hoisted Harry's trunk onto the above selves. Harry smiled and got settled down next to Hedwig, Draco sitting across from him. They both smiled at each other for a while before Draco whipped out his wand.

Draco's wand was very straight and had a black handle with a nice brown body and tip. His friend continued to proudly proclaim that it is 10" long and that it was made out of hawthorn wood and unicorn hair.

"Mr Ollivander said that it was reasonably springy." Draco explained. "What about your wand Harry?"

To tell the truth, Harry was a bit self-conscious about his wand as it was apparently a shocking choice considering who he was. When he says this, he means his reputation as the Boy-Who-Lived through the Killing Curse. The wand was apparently a twin of the man's who had killed his parents and who had killed defending himself from the Curse. Despite his feelings of negativity towards his wand, he took it out so that Draco could see.

Where Draco's wand was all straight and bold edges, Harry's was rough. The handle looked like it was a tree branch, and while it smoothed out when it came to the body and tip, it was still rough and uneven. It was all the same colour of brown that would usually be found in the bark of a tree.

"Mine is 11" long and made of holly with the core of phoenix feather." Harry described his wand to Draco, "The wand dude said that it was nice and supple, whatever that means."

"What does dude mean?" Draco asks and Harry gives him an incredulous look.

"You really don't know!" Harry exclaimed.

"No."

"It just means a boy or man."

"Why don't they just say boy or man then?" Draco asked, looking confused. "It would be much more convenient, no one would misunderstand them if they just specified they're gender."

Harry looked into Draco's eyes. They were the same slate grey as before but now that he was closer he could see speckles of blue. They reminded Harry of a grey dove he saw one time and decided that he really liked Draco's eyes.

"I don't know, it's a muggle thing." Harry said.

"Stupid Muggles and their convoluted sayings."

Even though Harry didn't know what _convoluted_ meant, he got the idea and let out a soft chuckle, which soon turned into boisterous laughter as both the boys enjoyed their train ride.

After a few hours, a strange interaction with a girl named Hermione Granger, who had bushy hair and was looking for her friend's toad named Trevor and lots of sweets bought from a nice lady with very rosy cheeks, they arrived at a train stop in this place called Hogsmeade. Harry briefly wondered why both the school, Hogwarts, and the town they stopped at where named after hogs but brushed that thought aside when he heard the load, familiar call of Hagrid.

"Firs' years, this way." Hagrid called from where he was standing, holding a large lantern. Harry was reminded of the fairy tales Harry used to read before Dudley found out he hid from him in the library. Harry winced at the memory, he had received a black eye from his cousin that day.

Once there was nobody left on the train, Hagrid lead them down a pathway. They had been instructed to leave they're things on the train so that they could be transported to the dorm they would be staying in, so Harry didn't have to worry about lugging his trunk and owl with him. Draco had only just started complaining about the cold when they reached their destination. Harry's eyes widened as he saw the magnificent castle that lay across a lake.

'This is definitely a fairy tale.' Harry thought solemnly before he pinched himself. Relieved that he didn't wake up, he continued to admire the vast building and grounds that spread out in front of his eyes. The castle walls could have been taken out of a book he had read about dragons and princesses, with its high pillars with pointed roofs. He felt a surge of excitement at the prospect of exploring his new school. Everything would be different now.


	4. The Four Different Houses

Harry stuck close to Draco as they all were placed into small boats that fit about four people. He was with Draco and the girl, Hermione, that they had met on the train. There was also a boy who was holding a toad in his hands. Harry assumed that it must have been Trevor. Harry couldn't help but get caught up in the fantasies that were circling his mind as he looked upon Hogwarts.

Harry would finally have friends! He already had one in Draco and without Dudley there to sabotage his friendships, he was sure that he would have plenty of people to talk to. It was all his best dreams coming true! Harry was practically jumping excitement and he looked over and flashed a smile at Draco, who's eyes were starry in the light of the castle windows. Draco smiled back at him.

"Isn't this great Harry?" Draco asked, his voice slightly higher pitched. Harry had noticed that Draco did this whenever he was excited about something.  
"Yea, I can't wait to meet everyone." Harry responded before the boys went back to silence. The rest of the boat ride, Harry's thoughts were on the opportunities of the upcoming school year.

They reached the other end of the lake and they were met with an elegant lady who had pursed lips and squared glasses. With a curt, "Follow me students." Harry's group followed the lady into the Entrance Hall. The ceiling was so high, Harry couldn't see the individual stones. The ground beneath his feet was made out of a collection of smooth flag stones that made a clacking sound whenever someone took a step. By the walls, there gargoyles and metal armour. The lady, who Harry thought might be one of the teachers, continued to lead them towards a pair of towering wooden doors that had a complex pattern of swirls and symbols. When they reached the doors, they directed them towards a smaller pair of doors of to the side that lead to a small chamber. She then introduced herself,

"Welcome to Hogwarts, The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term feast will be beginning shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into one of the four houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Your future house will be like your family at Hogwarts. You will have classes together, sleep together, and spend time with each other."

"Your actions will reflect on your house's points this year. You will earn points for your successes and lose them for rule breaking. At the end of the year, all the house points will be added up and the house with the most points will be awarded with the house cup, which is a great honour."

"The Sorting Ceremony will start in a few moments so I suggest that you… smarten up a bit," she finished off while eyeing Harry's messy hair. Harry reached up and tried to pat it down, already knowing that it wasn't going to work. He had tried many times before to try and tame it but nothing worked. He remembered one time, when he was just starting primary school, Aunt Petunia shaved his whole head, except for his bangs because of a strange lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Thinking of his scar, Hagrid had mentioned something about being a memento of his defeat of Voldemort.

The professor lead them through the doors and into a huge dining hall. It reminded Harry of the canteen at his old school, except for the fact that there was no food lady and that instead of many small groups of tables, there were four long tables that ran the length of the hall, until they reached the teacher's table, which overlooked the students. There were also floating candles and if you looked up, there was a night sky where a roof should have been. It looked so realistic that harry would have thought that they hadn't built a roof if it wasn't for the fact that he had already seen the outside of the castle, which had all the roofs in the right places.

Professor McGonagall stopped when they reached a couple of stairs. She indicated for them to wait there before she stepped up next to a stool of a ratty looking hat placed on it.

"When I call your name, you will come forward, sit on the stool, and place the Sorting Hat onto your head." The Professor explained, right before the hat that was previously inanimate hat opened its mouth and starting singing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Once the hat finished its song, the whole hall erupted in claps and Harry quickly followed. McGongall stepped forward with a roll of parchment in her hand. Unrolling it, she called out the first name in a stern and clear voice that echoed down the now quiet hall.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

A flustered girl made her way up the steps and sat on the stool. She was trembling like a leaf as the professor put the hat on top of Hannah's head. After a few seconds, the hat opened its mouth again.

"Hufflepuff!"

One of the tables behind him, the ones who were wearing the yellow badger badges, erupted into applause. The sorting continued and Harry noticed that Hermione had been sorted into Gryffindor.

"Malfoy, Draco!"

The hat touched Draco's head for less than a second before if made its decision.

"Slytherin!"

Smiling, Harry clapped, glad that his friend got the house that he wanted. Feeling nervous the closer the further down the list McGonigall went, Harry was terrified when she called out his name.

"Potter, Harry!"

If the hall was quiet before, it was absolutely silent now and Harry curled his hand up to hide their shaking as he sat on the stool. The hat was placed on his head and the hall was blocked out from his view. Harry listened to the Sorting Hat as he went on about how he would do well in any of the houses.

Harry caught when the Hat said that "Slytherin is your way to greatness."

He didn't think that he could ever achieve greatness, but Slytherin was where Draco was and he would very much like it if they could stay in the same House. Harry didn't even voice this to the Hat before it was calling out,

"Slytherin!"


	5. Slytherin

The hat was taken off of Harry's head and he immediately looked over to where he had noticed Draco was sitting. Draco was smiling up at him and clapping with more enthusiasm than the rest of the house. Harry noticed that the other Slytherin's seemed very indifferent to his sorting compared to Draco and the other Houses. As Harry walked over to the Slytherin table, he was very much aware of the outraged gasps and shocked whispers. When he sat down at the table and his badge changed from a Hogwarts one, to a Slytherin, the entire hall erupted into chatter that could have only been quieted by the booming voice of the headmaster. Once the Hall settled down, the Sorting continued on and Harry feigned interest as he observed the people around him.  
Draco had saved him a seat next to the him and when Harry sat down there, he had been surrounded by people who he assumed were Draco's friends.  
Across from him was a boy with bright blue eyes that seemed oddly out of place for his dark skin. Sitting next to Bright Eyes, sat a boy with a round face to match his round body. On Harry's left and across from Round Face, sat a tall boy with a long face and strong jaw, Long Face. Then on the other side of Draco sat a girl with dark hair down to her chin and was scratching her chin with dark carefully manicured nails. Across from The Girl, was a very stringy boy who was as tall as Long Face but not as muscular, he could go by Lanky.  
Once the Sorting finished, the Headmaster said, "Let the feast begin." Before the once empty plate serving plates in front of Harry filled with food.  
Completely surprised, Harry wasn't the only one who let out a soft gasp of delight before digging in to the meal, glad that his uncle wasn't here to tell him not to 'soil' the food.

After a while of eating, Harry notices that Draco carefully dabs to corner of his mouth with a napkin before letting out a soft cough, much like the one his father let out to catch Madam Malkin's attention when they had first met.  
"I would like to introduce you to Harry Potter, a new friend of mine." Draco declared, looking around at his friends, who were all seemed like the couldn't care less who Harry was.  
Draco turned in his seat to face Harry and started introducing his friends to him. Pointing to Long Face and Round Face he said, "These boys are Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe.". Draco then continued to point to Bright Eyes and Lanky, "And this is Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott." Then finally he pointed to The Girl and said, "And this is Pansy Parkinson."  
"Hello Harry." They all said, except for Round Face, Vincent Crabbe, who had his face stuffed with chicken.  
"Hello guys."  
And then they all continued to eat.  
The casual conversation of the other students was a blur in Harry's ears as he stuffed himself as fully as possible. Well the conversations did blur until he picked up his name being said by The Girl, Pansy Parkinson, as she complained to Draco.  
"Draco, why did you have to befriend Potter!"  
"Its none of your business Pansy."  
"But Potter. Of all people, you have to choose the bloody Boy-Who-Lived!" she continued.  
"Because I can and I will!"  
Pouting, Pansy turned back to her meal and Harry tried to ignore the burning disappointment that he felt at the obvious loss of Pansy as a friend. He still clung onto the hope that the others wouldn't mind him being there and continued on with eating.

It was dessert time when it happened. He had noticed a dark robed professor was glaring at him from the teacher's table so he looked up to meet his eyes, when suddenly his forward but out with pain, right where his scar was.  
It wasn't dreadfully awfully, only a few harsh spikes but it was enough to alert Harry. Turning to Draco, he asked who that professor with dark hair and a hooked nose was.  
"Oh, that's Professor Snape, the Head of Slytherin." Draco explained, then seeing Harry's frightened expressions said, "Don't worry, he's not as bad as he seemed."  
This relieved Harry and he continued to nibble of the small pie in front of him until it was time to go the dormitory's.  
An older boy led them through the halls and down the winding stair until they were faced with elaborately carved doors, even more detailed than the Great Hall's.  
"The password is Purity, please remember it as you won't be able to enter without it." The older student said before leading them through the doors.  
"You'll have to share a dormitory with two other students, the boys down the left stairs and the girls down the right." He said, pointing to the first group of stair that lead down further into the dungeons. "You can find where you'll be sleeping as there will be names on the door for you." With that, the student when off with a swirl of his school robes.  
Everyone shuffled into their respective staircases and made their way to the hall lined with doors.  
"I had Father talk to Professor Snape about placing us in the same dormitories, I hope you don't mind." Draco was saying. They walked up to the third last one from the end of the hall and found their names inscribed to the door. The only other name was Blaise's.  
They walked in to find their trunks at the end of their new beds, and instead of windows there was glass separating them from the underwater life outside of the dungeon, with emerald green velvety curtains were swept aside. The colour scheme inside their room was the same as the rest of the dungeon; dark shades of green, bright specks of silver and bold black accents. Harry went to the bed with the trunk engraved with H.P. into the side and sat down on the double bed that had been provided. The other boys started changing into their pyjamas and Harry did the same. Soon enough they were all asleep.


	6. Friend-Who-Wasn't-His-Friend-Anymore

Sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry reflected on a whirlwind of a week he had. His main goal of making friends was slowly being achieved with his fellow Slytherins and even though he hadn't previously known any of the classes that he was currently taking, he was enjoying them all the same. The only troubling thing that had happened so far was his first Potions class with his Head of House, Professor Snape.

Harry had been sitting in the front row next to Draco and his other roommate, Blaise, when Professor Snape flew in through the door, startling the majority of the class (Harry included). Then he continued to talk about things that Harry didn't even understand; some of the words that the professor had said, Harry hadn't heard of before. Then, if his first class of Hogwarts wasn't scary enough, Professor Snape then decided to turn to Harry to ask his questions. He had then continued to make a sputtering mess of himself and forced the professor to call from Hermione, who had eagerly put her hand up with each of the three questions that he had been asked. Harry had been quite embarrassed by the whole ordeal and decided that the first thing he would do during Study Hall, would be to read the first few chapters of his Potions textbook.

Despite the choppy waters that he had started off in for his classes, he found the other ones were not as bad and that some of them were actually quite enjoyable - except for History of Magic, that class was so boring.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by the hoots of a parliament of over a hundred owls (Harry had overheard Draco using that word to describe a group of owls), as they swooped down and tossed letters and parcels to various students across the Hall. Harry wasn't expecting any letters from his relatives but was pleased that his friend Pansy had received something from home.

Buttering his toast, Harry sat in enthusiasm for the upcoming day; they were getting flying lessons with Madam Hooch.

The day passed and soon enough he was sliding into his seat for dinner. Harry warily eyed his friends sitting at the table.

Ever since breakfast, they had all been avoiding him and he couldn't figure out why. It started with a conversation he had walked in on between his roommates and Pansy, saying something about Mr and Mrs Parkinson. The conversation had immediately stopped when they noticed he was there and Draco, Blaise and Pansy had all fled the Common Room.

Throughout the day, Harry continued to notice that people who had once welcomed his company, now sneered at him when he got to close. Even Draco wasn't talking to him, something that Harry denied bothered him but continued to cause a slight pressure behind his eyes.

Finally, the day had ended and they were sitting at the dinner table. His spot next to Draco had been taken by Theodore and none of the other Slytherins welcomed him into their group, so he ended up sitting at the end of the table where only a couple of seventh years sat, ignoring him.

Pushing around his food, he decided he wasn't very hungry anymore.

The next morning, Harry was pondering his predicament. None of his so-called friends were talking to him, even Blaise and Draco acted with cold indifference towards him when he had gone to bed the other night. Harry had hoped that maybe they were pulling a prank, something Harry was familiar with because of his cousin's shenanigans. He had hoped that it would blow over by morning, but now it was morning and once again he sat next to the group of seventh years at the end of the table.

Harry was contemplating possibly looking for friends outside his house, maybe with Hermione, when he was - once again - interrupted by hooting owls.

A fierce and beautiful grey, speckled owl flew through the air and dropped a small envelope in Draco's lap – could he still call him Draco or was it Malfoy now. Harry watched as the blonde boy carefully opened the seal and his eyes took in the writing. Once he was done, he lifted his eyes met Harry's eyes from across the table. Harry immediately looked away, embarrassed that he had been caught staring, when the movement of Draco standing up caught his attention.

His friend-who-wasn't-really-his-friend-anymore, made his way over, his dignified steps clacking against the stone floors drew the attention of the other Slytherins who hadn't already been alerted by Draco standing.

Harry almost couldn't believe his eyes as his roommate made his way over and carefully sat down next to Harry. Draco gave a polite smile before placing food into is newly appeared plate and began eating, ignoring the incredulous stares of Pansy and the group around her.

Later, while they were walking from Charms to Study Hall, Draco took Harry aside in the corridor.

He began with an,

"I'm sorry."

Then continued on with the rest,

"I'm sorry Harry that I listened to Pansy's parents and ignored you, it wasn't something a friend should do and I promise I won't ever do it again."

Harry was shocked; he honestly didn't need an apology. He understood the pressure his friend must have felt from the other house members and didn't blame him for caving so easily.

"It's alright Draco."

Draco's eyes, that had been lowered during his whole apology, had lifted along with the corners of his mouth.

"Really! Harry, you really forgive me?" He exclaimed, his hands moving up and clenching Harry's arms.

"Of course, Draco." Harry responded, giving a smile of his own. "As you said, I'm your friend and as long as you don't ignore me again, I don't see why we can't continue to be friends."

At this, Draco lurched forward to give Harry an unexpected hug, much like how Harry had given the hug to Draco at Madam Malkin's before the school year at started. Pulling back, Draco said,

"Thank you, Harry."

And they stepped out into the hallways and headed to Study Hall.


	7. Halloween Feast

Even though Draco welcomed him back into his good graces, Harry noticed that the others were treating him with polite indifference. It wasn't the same hostile shunning that he had faced before Draco's very public re-befriending of Harry, so he tried to not let it bother him. However, after a while, the polite indifference slowly collapsed back into the harsh stares and cruel exclusion that he had initially been faced with. And, soon enough, the pranks started. Well, Harry called them pranks, Draco called it bullying and encouraged him to go to their Head of House.

"I'm just saying Harry, the soon enough they're going to seriously hurt you with their 'pranks'" Draco said, looking over from where he was styling his hair in the bathroom mirror, at Harry's disfigured face. "What if they mess up with their spells and permanently damage you?"

Harry pondered this. At first the pranks hadn't seemed too bad; they were nothing compared to what his cousin, Dudley, had subjected him too. But now, as he looked at his own face through the disgruntled mirror (who was very adamant in supporting Draco in this argument), he wondered if they were possibly going too far. He had no doubt that his face would return to normal in a few hours, but still his face looked absolutely painful, and if it hadn't been for a simple numbing charm that Draco had placed on him, he would be feeling exactly what he was seeing right now.

Harry decided that he would give it a deadline. If the pranks didn't end by midnight the night of the Halloween feast, which was tomorrow, then he would go put in a complaint with the Professor. Hopefully then something would change.

"Okay Draco, I'll go to Professor Snape tomorrow after the feast."

Harry didn't catch the look of relief on his best friend's face while he finished off trying to comb his hair and left the bathroom, getting ready for breakfast.

They day continued with stares of concern and amusement from the other houses and stares of hateful righteousness from most of his house. By the time Harry made it back to the dorm at the end of the school day, he was losing faith in his housemates' change of heart and with that loss of faith, came anger. They were his housemates, how dare they treat him like this! He was someone who they were supposed to be loyal towards in return for his allegiance. But instead of friendship, he received these silly pranks! When it was time to go down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry was practically fuming.

Stomping down the stairs, he took the long way with Draco in order to avoid their house, or any other ones for that matter. Draco was getting himself almost as worked up about the matter as Harry was because his face hadn't returned to normal yet.

"We're are a part of Slytherin, _you_ are a part of Slytherin! Where is their house loyalty or discretion? Not only are they bullying _my_ friend, their letting the whole school know!" Draco complained, his haughty, annoyed voice echoed in the silent hallway.

"We're no Hufflepuffs, but we _know_ the meaning of fidelity. We value fidelity!"

Harry sighed. Draco had been going on about this throughout the last week, when the pranks started, and while it was amazing to have someone standing up for him, it was getting quite annoying.

"Listen Draco," Harry cut into Draco angry tirade, "I'll be going to Professor Snape after the feast and I'm sure he'll help me, you don't have to worry anymore."

Draco huffed out a "Fine," and they continued their way through the maze of hallways leading to the Great Hall. They even passed by a Halloween celebratory feast that the ghosts were hosting in some old classroom. Harry wanted to stay, preferring the welcome company of the dead, over the pitiless words of the living, but the strong mould smell drove Draco away and Harry wasn't about to abandon his friend who had been undyingly faithful to him since the Pansy incident. The incident left him curious about what both the letters from Pansy's parents and Draco's parents had said. Deciding to ask Draco quickly before they made it to the Hall, Harry tried to casually bring it up. Draco had answered him, saying that Pansy's parents had been – like his – supporters of the Dark Lord during the Wizarding War but despite the Light Side winning and the Dark Lord being vanquished, they still held onto old grudges.

"Why don't your parents hold any grudges towards me then?" Harry had asked.

Looking at him, Draco told him, "My parents had never joined the Dark Lord willingly. They were under a powerful dark curse called Imperious."

"Imperious?"

"Yeah, it's a spell that allows the caster to completely control the actions of the victim."  
"Sounds horrible."

"Yeah."  
They lapsed back into silence and walked through the open doors of the Great Hall, sitting down with Draco's friends and enjoying Halloween dinner.

They were all just finishing up desert. Draco was grabbing a candy apple and Harry was trying to decide between chocolate or a sweet when it happened. Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, had thrown open the doors, looking like he had seen a ghost. Well not a ghost, as they were a normal occurrence here, but it looked like he saw something really terrifying.

The whole hall had fallen silent at the state of their stammering teachers when he shouted out,

"Troll! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know." And then promptly passed out when all the screams started. Harry noticed that Draco's entire faced drained of any of the minimal colour it had in the first place, as he dropped his candy apple, clutched onto Harry's shoulder with one of his hands and let out a terrified screech. Harry tried to wrack his brain with anything he knew about Trolls and his mind wandered back to a conversation he had overheard a couple of Third Years having about the physical appearance of one. The words, '12 feet' echoed in his mind as his own bought of terror seeped into his brain. He was about to turn to Draco and demand that they get out of the Hall, when Headmaster Dumbledore's voice boomed from where he now stood at the front of the Hall.

"QUIET!"

And quiet the Hall's occupants were, all of their terrified faces looking up at the Headmaster as he gave instructions for the Head of Houses, assisted by the Prefects, to lead all the students back to their respective Common Rooms.

Harry calmed down while he walked beside Draco back down to the Slytherin Dungeons and he thought bitterly how he would have to wait to complain to the Professor about his housemates.


	8. Anger Trickled Into Sadness

With all the trouble that the roaming Troll caused and then the added drama of a few Gryffindors – Longbottom, Weasley and Hermione – going after it (or so the rumours say), Harry hadn't had the chance to talk to the Professor that night. In fact, he had to wait a whole two days as apparently Professor had been injured and was stuck in the Infirmary for a few days. Harry almost talked himself out of going to his Head of House as his previous anger towards his housemates trickled into sadness, but Draco was especially skilled at holding a grudge and insisted that Harry go. So, when their Potions classes had resumed, Draco urged to go talk to Professor Snape after class and assured Harry that he would be waiting outside the door for him.

So that's how he found himself placing his school bag down in front of Professor Snape's desk and describing his treatment at the hands of the Slytherin's in his year to Professor Snape, trying to write off the disbelieving look on his professor's face as his usual severe face.

"And a few days ago, they disfigured my face and it was so painful, Draco had to apply a numbing spell to me." Harry finished off, looking up and meeting Professor Snape's dark brown eyes, they were almost black.

"I find it very hard to believe you, Mr Potter. Can you provide any proof to these severe accusations as I doubt _my_ Slytherin's would do this to you." The professor said, making Harry feel very disgruntled and ashamed for coming to him.

"W-well, as I'm sure you noticed around the Halloween feast, I had a very disfigured face tha-"

"That could have easily been a mistake in charms class that your trying to accuse your fellow classmates of."

As Professor Snape completely denied his accusations, Harry's fragile self-confidence that Draco had practically built for him, started to crumple.

"U-um, y-you can ask Dra-" Harry attempted to say.

"Yes, because Draco wouldn't be willing to support your tale. He is your best friend after all."

Harry felt his face heating up and the respect and trust he had in Snape, along with his own self-confidence, vanish. He grabbed his bag and rushed out the classroom, ignoring Draco's quelling shouts after him as he stormed to the abandoned classroom the ghosts had been using on Halloween. He stumbled past the open doors of the Great Hall, which was full of students having lunch, and managed to get to the, thankfully empty, classroom.

Closing the door behind him, he leaned against the stoned wall and let out a shaky breath, sinking down to sit crouched there.

After a few minutes of sitting, trying to settle down, he was about ready to leave and go find and apologise to Draco when the door creaked open and a group of familiar Slytherin's entered the room. The group made a semi-circle around where Harry was still crouched against the wall. From the left, the members of the group included Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Theodore and even his own roommate, Blaise.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked as he tried to get up, only to be pushed back down by Pansy.

"Why were you and Draco staying back to talk to Professor Snape?" She asked, sending an angry glare at him.

Harry felt his blood run cold, they were going to seriously hurt him if they knew why.

"Was it to go and tattle on us, _Potter_?" She sneered and Harry felt an increasing need to get out of this room, this situation.

Panicked, Harry came up with the first excuse that came to mind.

"I just had a question about the homework he assigned us."

Too late did Harry realise his mistake. Snape had been away for the past few classes, there was no homework to do. Which Pansy made it clear that she knew when she landed a painful kick to his shins, likely leaving a grisly bruise.

"He didn't assign homework, you bloody wanker."

Harry felt himself curl up more. He watched as she let out a little flick of her hand and the boys around her jerked into action, kicking any part of Harry they could get their foot on while they ignored Harry's frequent cries of pain and begs for them to stop. Soon the sharp pains of their kicks caused Harry's balled body to fall apart, giving them more places to kick and making them increase their efforts.

Harry felt like he was about to pass out, wished that he would pass out because the pain was equal to some of Uncle Vernon's worst beatings, but his body refused to let his body go and he just laid there, panting, with his cheek pressed against the hard floor and his aching body bleeding and bruised as they continued their brutal attack.

Pansy called off her attackers a little while later and Harry watched as they left the room. All he could manage was a whimpered question towards Blaise,

"Why, you're my roommate?"

Blaise turned around, looked at him with slightly empathetic eyes before he covered them with a blank face and said,

"Because you're a Potter. You don't belong in Slytherin."

Harry felt a flare of pain through his chest at these words as he watched Blaise – no, Zabini – walk out with the others, leaving him there.

Harry never felt lonelier than ever in his whole life in that moment. Not when he was locked into his cupboard on countless Christmas's, not when Dudley denied him friendship by bullying anyone who would even go near Harry, not on the anniversary of his parent's deaths, never. No, it was a different type of loneliness. It was the bitter denial of friendship, the painful truth over the fact that the people who were supposed to be his friends, who had been his friends, abandoned him because of who he was. His mind drifted to how Pansy had spat his last name, how she had told him with such confidence that he did not belong here, in her house or with her friends, that left him feeling isolated as his eyes finally slipped shut and collapsed into unconsciousness.


	9. Hospital Wing

Draco was shocked and slightly worried. He had finally managed to convince Harry to go to Professor Snape in concerns of the harsh bullying that Draco had observed. He even offered to back up those claims. He was waiting outside of the professor's classroom, waiting to be called in to confirm Harry's complaint, when his best friend stormed out, practically in tears mind you, and disappeared down the hallway despite his calls. A few moment later, Snape's head poked out and shook his head, muttering something about insolent brats under his breath before looking over at Draco and telling him to get to lunch. So yeah, Draco was very confused.

He decided he would go find his friend and made his way in the general direction that Harry had run. All while wracking his brain for any possible places that Draco knew Harry would seek refuge. Draco knew his friend well enough to know that when he was upset, he tended to isolate himself, so the Common Room and any other public places were off the list. Draco guessed he could try the more out of the way toilets but there were so many that his hopes of finding his friend before lunch finished were grim. Turning the corner that led out of the dungeons, he decided that he would search the one closets to the Great Hall first.

Draco quickly walked past the open doors of the Hall and made his way down a small corridor that seemed vaguely familiar. He walked down until he came upon the bathroom then glanced inside. Seeing that Harry wasn't there, Draco continued to walk down the hallway until he heard a bunch of voices. A looked over and saw that those voices belonged to the people who had been bullying Harry. The hot anger rose up through him and he wanted to go and tell them off for what they had down to Harry but he knew he couldn't.

These people had been his friends for as long as he could remember, and he wasn't about to ruin their friendship over a silly phase of bullying, even if that bullying was happening to his best friend. So instead, he swallowed down his anger and called out to them,

"Hey guys, have you seen Harry?"

At the name of his friend's name, Pansy chuckled and looked at the people around her, almost as if they all knew something he didn't, before looking back at Draco.

"Have we seen Harry? Not at all!"

Draco was definitely suspicious now and his resolve to find Harry strengthen.

"Okay, thanks anyway" Draco said, then made his way through the path that Pansy's group had just walked down. The further he walked, the more familiar it looked. The place was nagging him in the back of his mind, just on the edge of his thoughts when he turned around another corner and realized, this was the place that the disgusting ghost Halloween celebration had been held. Just the memory of the moldy and smelly food made him gag and he remembered having to drag Harry away and to the Halloween Feast. And thank Merlin he did, or else they would have been wandering around the school with the troll. Draco decided that he would check the room and if Harry wasn't there, he would go and check a few more places before getting a bite to eat before the next class began.

The door was left open slightly and Draco pushed it, letting it fall open revealing the heartbreaking scene in front of him. It was Harry and he was unconscious on the ground bloody and bruised. Draco immediately had his suspicions of who did this but put them aside, with his suddenly very loud emotions, to help his friend.

Harry was already walking up with a soft groan and Draco hoped that he had passed out earlier on into the beating. Draco struggled to turn the boy onto his back and then when he managed, he continued to struggle to get him slung around Draco's shoulder. Finally, Harry was upright and at least slightly conscious if the quiet groans of pain were anything to go by. Draco wished he knew some pain relief or healing spells.

Draco watched as Harry's eyes fluttered open, revealing the boy's startlingly green eyes. A moment of jealousy swarming in Draco's chest; Harry had to most interesting eyes he had ever seen, his own were just a boring greyish blue. Once Harry managed to fully open his eyes, he managed to croak out a soft, "Draco," to which Draco replied,

"It'll be okay Harry, I'm going to carry to Madam Pomphrey and she'll heal you." The Slytherin said, trying his best to keep the worried tremble out of his voice. Harry managed a nod before Draco set off on the long journey to the Hospital Wing.

Draco shoulder was hurting by the time they got there. Despite Harry's efforts of trying to walk on his own, he was so badly injured that he could only walk a few steps until he stumbled and fell onto his knees. That left Draco with a dead weight leaning on his shoulder for the past fifteen minutes as they slowly made their way to the Hospital Wing. Draco managed to kick open the door as gracefully as he could manage and lug Harry over towards the nearest bed before he completely collapsed in sweat and gulping breaths. He sat there for a few minutes before he managed to lift his head up from where it was rested on the side of Harry's bed and called for Madam Pomphrey. In the time it took her to make it out of her office and over to the bed, Harry had already whispered numerous thank-you's to which Draco simply shrugged and said, "That's what friends are for," which put a small smile of Harry's face.

"Now, now what happened here?" A voice sounded from behind Draco, causing him to jump a little and look behind him.

"I found him like this Madam Pomphrey, in an abandoned classroom in a corridor off the Great Hall." He explained and ignored the inquiring look that she sent his way in favor of looking back at Harry and offering a smile.

"Okay then, let's get him patched up then."


	10. Who did this to you?

Harry peeled his eyes opened and, when met with the ridiculously blurry surroundings, grouped around for his glasses. He found them on a table to his left and shoved them onto his face before looking around. Harry recognised the familiar surroundings of the Hospital Wing, as he had been there numerous times to get help with the pranks his classmates had pulled. He was laying in one of the many beds that were lined up against the walls and sunlight was streaming through the large window above him. Through the glass, he could see the grey, snowy clouds as small flakes idly made their way down onto the ground. Harry looked up at the ceiling and contemplated how he got here.

His body hurt with the tale of how Parkinson had let the others hurt him. He tried to ignore the bitter betrayal he felt and stubbornly thought that he hadn't considered them friends, despite that being a lie. He remembered how they had loomed over him. And how they hadn't even been bothered to bend down and use their fists, they had just kicked him like they would a piece of garbage that was in their way. Even though he only felt small twinges of pain here and there (undoubtedly thanks to Madam Pomphrey) the memory of their shoes ramming into his ribs brought forth phantom pains that hadn't been there when he woke up. He remembered how, for an awful moment before Pansy said to stop, he thought he was going to die. He thought that these people, his housemates, hated him with such passion that they would commit murder just to rid the world of him. The chill of fear shivered through the memory and down Harry's spine. Another shiver went down Harry's back when he remembered how quickly he accepted his fate, how he hadn't even bothered to fight back.

Shaking off his feelings, he sat up and swung his legs around the bed. He was not going to sit here and wallow in self-pity. If he were back with the Dursley's he would have started his endless list of chores, but since they had house elves here (they were the strangest creatures Harry had ever seen, almost like the gremlins he had seen on one of Dudley's numerous televisions) he didn't need to do that. Instead, he decided to hunt down Madam Pomphrey, thank her, and get back to his room. However, the thought of facing Zabini filled him with reluctance.

The thought of seeing Zabini, Parkinson and every other person that had hurt him again filled him with dread. Harry had never been good at confrontations. He sometimes thought it was his cousin's fault, as every time he would confront Dudley, or Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon about something Dudley did, he would get hurt. He was hurt so much, that the very idea of going to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia gave him a wave of anxiety that put knots in his stomach and cold sweats on his forehead.

Harry was so caught up in his own mind, he was startled when Madam Pomphrey placed a hand on his shoulder and asked what he was doing out of bed.

"Looking for you actually," he said and followed her as the mediwitch lead him back to his bed. Harry sat on the bed and Madam Pomphrey pulled up a chair as he thanked her.

"No need to thank me, Harry," she replied, "In fact, if you want to thank someone, it should be young Mr Malfoy, he was the one that brought you in."

Harry felt his cheeks heat up embarrassment. He had hoped he wouldn't have to tell Draco what happened. His best friend was always so concerned and frustrated with him that Harry really wished that he could just stay out of the blonde's gelled back, pretty hair.

Starting to stand back up, Harry uttered, "I'll go thank him now." However, Madam Pomphrey placed her hand on Harry's thigh, pushing him back down.

"Now before you go Harry, I want you to tell me who did this to you."

Harry sighed, she always asked him this when he came in. And like always he replied with a 'no one' before quickly made his way back to class, but this time Madam Pomphrey wasn't having it.

"No, I'm sorry Harry but you're not leaving until you tell me who did this to you."

He looked up and met her eyes. While her face was stern, she somehow managed a sympathetic air about her. Harry chewed at his lip, contemplating what lie to feed her. Accident in Defense class, fight with a beast in Care of Magical Creatures class…

"No one did this to me, I fell down the stairs."

Madam Pomphrey shook her head and fastened her hands in her lap.

"Harry, when you came in, you were in a severe state of shock with a concussion and a few broken ribs. You did not just fall down the stairs."

He probably should have gone with a different excuse, but he hadn't realised his injuries were that bad.

"Are they the same people that pull the pranks on you Harry?" she asked.

Harry nodded, "Yeah and I'm sorry, but I'm not telling you who they are."

Madam Pomphrey sighed and rubbed her temples before looking back up at Harry.

"I had hoped you would tell me yourself, but I guess I'll just have to go off what Draco said."

Draco knew who they were? Draco told her? Harry should have expected this, Draco had been the one stressing that he told a teacher. Harry guessed he should be thankful to his best friend for even bothering to worry about him, but that didn't stop an angry spark lighting up.

"What did Draco tell you?" Harry inquired, trying to keep his voice calm and only failing slightly because his voice was a little raised.

"That it was a group of Slytherins. Their names, I believe, were – Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe and Theodore Nott." Harry felt the blood drain out of his face, "Isn't Mr Zabini your roommate?"  
Harry felt increasingly more panic as each second passed. Madam Pomphrey knew, and she would confront them and then Harry would get beat up again.

Trying to keep as calm a voice as he could manage, Harry begged her, "You can't tell anyone, please they would kill me!"

The mediwitch looked alarmed at this, "Did they threaten you, Harry?"

Harry shook his head and thought back at how viciously they kicked him, at how harshly they had treated him, how he had feared for his life.

"They didn't threaten me. But, they didn't need to. They got their point across."

Madam Pomphrey's stern face seemed to mush together even more while she leaned forward slightly, a fierce look overcoming her.

"I promise that they won't hurt you again."


	11. Draco's Ostracise-ation

Madam Pomphrey was absolutely confronted by this. Harry's pale face stared back at her before he looked down into his lap when he said that those schoolyard bullies would kill him. While she was sure Harry's perspective wasn't entirely true as his memories of the incident were most lickley heightened by fear, she was not going to let him continue to live with this overshadowing anxiety caused by people who were supposed to be his classmates.

"I promise that they won't hurt you again."

Harry looked up through his eyelashes and she had a rush of affection. He reminded her so much of James, except for his mother's green eyes of course. She remembered how James had been such a troublemaker, constantly coming into the Hospital Wing with any number of injuries, usually accompanied with a swarm of friends and an equally injured Severus.

Thinking about Severus, Madam Pomphrey was reminded that he was Harry's Head of House.

"Have you spoken to Professor Snape about the bullying you have been subjected to Harry?"

He looked down at his lap again, his dark hair hiding his face from view. All that she could see from this angle was the rim of his spectacles as he nodded his head.

"He didn't believe me." Harry whispered.

She felt her lips press firmly together at this and had to stop an exasperated sigh from leaving her mouth. She loved Severus; he had been a studious student and a good friend throughout the years, but this was so typical of him to be blinded by prejudice.

"I'll speak to Professor Snape myself then." She reassured him. "We'll get this sorted out Harry."

She heard a faint thank you before she got up, told Harry he was welcome to go back to his dormitory, before headed to her office.

Harry sat there on his hospital bed, watching Madam Pomphrey walk away. He didn't particularly want to go back to his dormitory like she told him, so he decided he would wander around the school. Harry hadn't had the chance to explore Hogwarts as much as he wished, although with the recent troll incident, he had been hesitant. However, it was midday and the snow was drifting through the sky in such a peaceful manner that Harry couldn't help but feel safe. Walking out under the snow, Harry took a moment to take a deep breath of fresh air when he heard voices coming from around the corner.

"Guys, we need to figure out what this Philosopher's Stone is." A firm female voice said. Harry inched behind the wall separating the courtyard and the inside corridor where the voices came from.

"I _know_ Hermione, but we've searched everywhere." A whiny male voice answered. What was the Philosopher's Stone?

"Well, I guess we'll have to look again. Won't we Neville?" the female voice – the Hermione girl he had met earlier in the year – said. Harry guessed this was the 'Golden Trio' as Draco liked to dub them. They consisted of Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. At least, that's what Harry thinks all their names are, he doesn't pay close attention to the complaining Slytherin's in the Common Room, especially when they talk about the same thing repeatedly.

"I guess…" the timid voice, Neville, sighed, a lot closer then they were before. Harry stepped back and hurried along a random path before they caught him snooping. Harry decided it was time to get back to his dorm now, there was a lot to think about.

"Draco, why do you even bother to be friends with the bloody Boy-Who-Lived?" Vincent Crabbe said as they say around the fire. That was not the question to ask and everyone around him glared, causing the pudgy boy to roll his eyes and get back to eating a cupcake.

Draco was already very agitated. Harry was currently unconscious in the Hospital Wing and he had yet to find any proof that the people he suspected (every single one of Harry's so called 'friends') were the ones who put him there. So, he really couldn't have been blamed when he said,

"He a lot better of a friend than you, you boring lot of fat."

Any chatter around the room stopped and all eyes turned to him. He watched as Vincent's face turned a deep shade of red as he sank further into the couch, causing Draco to have a burst of self-confidence. He would have had time to indulge in the attention he was getting right now but Harry chose this time to walk into the Common Room. All eyes were on Harry as he walked across to the staircase leading to his and Draco's room. Quickly deciding that he should go see if Harry was doing well, he had just been in the infirmary after all, he stood up, drawing the eyes back to him again (Merlin, Slytherin's were so gossip hungry).

"Please excuse me as I go check on my best friend's welfare." Draco stated before glaring at Pansy's group, "He had been running into some ill-luck lately and just got back form the Hospital Wing."

Slowly walking towards the stairwell, he met everyone stare head on and unafraid before taking the first stair and continuing down. When he curved around the first corner, he heard everyone he left behind start to chatter again.

Draco let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. A sense of dread was kicking in; by so openly standing up for Harry, he had shown that he stood with the boy that had defeated Voldemort – a God in many of the Slytherin's eyes – and therefor he was going to be punished. Before, he had barely managed to escape the pranks and the bullying while also silently supporting Harry. But now, he was out in the open; a nice target for anyone who wished to be an arse.

Despite this, Draco couldn't find it within himself to regret his decision to side with his best friend. Harry had needed someone to openly support him for so long, that Draco was slightly ashamed of the fact that he hadn't made a move earlier. Another, far more important reason why he needed to stick with Harry is because of the letter his parents sent him at the beginning of the year. He had burned if after he read it, but the words were still imprinted in his mind as he often went over them in his thoughts as too not forget. 'Dearest Draco,' it had said.

'Your mother and I write to you as we have received alarming news from Mrs. Parkinson that she had written to Pansy, stating that Pansy must not be friends with your young friend, Mr. Potter. Her mother told us that she wrote to Pansy saying that she must use discourage other Slytherins to not be his friend either. We must urge you to ignore young Pansy and continuing being friends with Mr. Potter, as it is crucial to our future plans. We can not go into further details besides this Draco, but please do this for us.'

The letter had then continued on about their lives, asking how Draco's was as well, before they signed of with an 'We love you'.

Sighing, he walked up to Harry and his doors, and knocked.


End file.
